WaPo/ABC poll: Obama, ObamaCare unpopularity levels off

posted at 11:21 am on December 17, 2013 by Ed Morrissey

The latest Washington Post/ABC poll has good news and bad news for President Barack Obama and the White House. The good news: ObamaCare and Obama haven’t gotten any more unpopular over the last month. The bad news: They’re not gaining much, either, and Republicans are starting to catch up:

Public opposition to the new health care law has eased in the past month, enough to help level off Barack Obama’s falling popularity – but not to turn it around.

Fifty-five percent of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll disapprove of the president’s job performance overall, unchanged from last month’s reading as the worst of his career. Forty-three percent approve, a scant percentage point from 42 percent in November.

Better for the president is an easing of opposition to the Affordable Care Act, with attitudes back to a close division on the law; 46 percent of Americans support it, with 49 percent opposed. Opposition is down from a record 57 percent last month amid the new system’s troubled rollout.

That’s not much of a gain, especially in this poll series. That just puts the support for ObamaCare back to where it was in October, 46/49, in a series where the opposition gap rarely exceeded single digits in the first place. In mid-summer last year, when most other pollsters showed significant opposition, the WaPo/ABC series showed 47/47 on the question. Among registered voters in this poll, it’s 45/51, and the Real Clear Politics average over the last two weeks — including this poll — puts support at 37.8/52. Every poll in that time frame except this one puts the opposition gap at double digits.

Meanwhile, there isn’t much other “good” news for the White House to enjoy here. Obama is still at 43-55 in a poll series where his last majority disapproval before ObamaCare’s rollout came in March 2012. On the economy, he’s at 42/55, farther underwater than he has been for more than a year prior to November. He’s essentially unchanged from last month on ObamaCare implementation at 34/62.

Obama supporters will point to Congressional numbers showing the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue doing much worse, and that’s true … to a point. Congress’ approval numbers barely improved to 16/81 from the shutdown’s 12/85, and Democrats in Congress still do better than their Republican counterparts, with their numbers almost exactly the same as the last poll taken on the question in March. However, Obama has lost ground to Republicans in big ways when positioned head-to-head on issues:

Coping with the nation’s main problems – Tied 41/41; Obama led 50/35 in December 2012

Trust in finding balance on spending: 40/48, down from shutdown’s 47/36

The reservoir of good will has dissipated, squandered by lies and mismanagement. This will be the new normal for the second term — and could be the ceiling if the incompetence and prevarications continue.

Blowback

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We are in a bit of a lull here, from the October-November bad news period, to the January 1 bad news, when people who are losing their insurance who think they’re covered with new ObamaCare plans find out otherwise. And that’s the way it’s going to be in 2014, as well, as we get closer to the employer mandate taking effect — lull periods of little new information mixed with times when there’s lots of stories about new groups of people finding themselves negatively affected by ObamaCare.

The White House’s goal is to make sure one of those lull periods of little new news happens between mid-October and Nov. 4, when people will be casting their midterm election ballots. The task for Republicans is to make sure the low-info swing voters don’t get distracted during the lull, in the same way some have been gobsmaked this year by the results of the ACA because they didn’t pay attention over the previous four years.

I don’t know HappyNomad. He has been successful at garnering no blowback from all of his previous lies. Nobody even knows what Darrel Issa is doing anymore. I think with the lies so personally effecting folks re: Obamacare he has finally met the wall. I sure it lights a fire in the other areas though.

Congress’ approval numbers barely improved to 16/81 from the shutdown’s 12/85, and Democrats in Congress still do better than their Republican counterparts, with their numbers almost exactly the same as the last poll taken on the question in March.

The reason for this is obvious. Democrats are happier with their representatives, and the Democrat leadership doesn’t attack its base all the time.

As long as the State-Run media is actively colluding with the Regime and are fanboy’s of Obama and his radical leftist Regime, his and ObamaGlitch’s popularity will hit a very hard bottom.

The bottom is of course the number of those that either A) don’t know about anything that’s going on and are gleefully living in Obama’s bliss, or B) kind of know what’s going on, but buy the State-Run media’s narrative that everything bad in the world is the result of Conservatives and the Tea Party.

Either way, the hard bottom for Obama’s and ObamaGlitch’s approval ratings are yet another indicator that we’re doomed as a nation. The only question is when the melt down will kick into high gear.

Obamacare he has finally met the wall. I sure it lights a fire in the other areas though.

DanMan on December 17, 2013 at 11:32 AM

That’s exactly it. The lazy stupid coward’s numbers would be different if there were not such a long line of lies ending with Obamacare and the three years of lies about bending the cost curve and being able to keep one’s current plan, doctor, hospital, meds, and fire department. Bengahzi or the NSA alone will find Obama defenders but they are force multipliers when one finds that they will now have to pay thousands more in health insurance so that some slut doesn’t have to pay for birth control.

But Bammy’s still in office and able to do damage. He’s watching, reading and listening, or at least has some flunkies doing it for him, so ya’all better be a bit careful with that “hooraaayy”. Premature exuberance like that may have undesirable and unexpected consequences.

These are considered “good bad numbers” until the next Republican gets in, then they will reflect a complete loss of confidence with the American people and should be cause for immediate resignation and appointment of a progressive Democrat successor…

These are considered “good bad numbers” until the next Republican gets in, then they will reflect a complete loss of confidence with the American people and should be cause for immediate resignation and appointment of a progressive Democrat successor…

Khun Joe on December 17, 2013 at 11:51 AM

Spot on Post.

Hey, speaking of Resignations….

anybody hear about the Justice Department being full
of Obama Bundlers, as employees??

RINO leadership thinks they can win by playing defense against the Dems and offense against the conservative base.

Wigglesworth on December 17, 2013 at 11:53 AM

Yep, glad I already changed my affiliation from Republican to Unaffiliated. As long as they have this “leadership”, I will never go back and will never vote for another (R) unless they’re Conservative enough to earn my vote.

More Conservatives will do the same. Bye bye Repubes, have fun being a small, powerless minority until you whither away and die. Or until you get it over with and merge with the DimocRats.

That’s not much of a gain, especially in this poll series. That just puts the support for ObamaCare back to where it was in October, 46/49, in a series where the opposition gap rarely exceeded single digits in the first place. In mid-summer last year, when most other pollsters showed significant opposition, the WaPo/ABC series showed 47/47 on the question. Among registered voters in this poll, it’s 45/51, and the Real Clear Politics average over the last two weeks — including this poll — puts support at 37.8/52. Every poll in that time frame except this one puts the opposition gap at double digits.

This analysis suggests that the ABC/WaPo poll is an outlier to the left compared to other polls. Perhaps the WaPo oversamples its own readers in the DC metro area, who live on the government teat? Sandra Fluke and her classmates and boyfriends love Obamacare! Free love, baby!!!

He’s got another chance for a bump. Gas prices have dropped due to supply increases. Mexico, having smarter crooks in charge than Venezuela, is opening its fields to private operators. This will bring an extra 2.5 million barrels of oil a day to the market (only question is how soon this affects prices), lowering prices more.

Our economy will benefit from the above, which is a good thing, but this will also help the Dem-Destroyers in the next election. They will have a recovery to point to…and the lapdogs will give O all the credit.

If? Really? What inkling of a suggestion is there that they will start down the straight-and-narrow now?

This will be the ceiling, all right. But the floor is going to drop out from under him.

iurockhead on December 17, 2013 at 11:55 AM

It won’t though. The State-Run media combined with low-information voters (sheeple), will mean that The One’s ratings will not drop below a certain hard base.

That base consists of those ObamaBots that will approve of his, no matter what. Those that have no idea what’s going on at all. And those that buy the media narrative that every bad thing in the world is the fault of Conservatives and the Tea Party.

Must be that a lot of people don’t believe the fake statistics from the government showing that the economy is doing well. Obamacare has given people the opportunity to see everything for what it is and not what the MSM says it is.

After serving only 4 years of their life sentences, former president Barack Obama and ex-wife Michelle escaped from the prison complex at Guantanamo Bay earlier today. It is unclear whether they had assistance, and their whereabouts are unknown at this time. Prison officials are reassuring the public that Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and all other former Democrat congressmen remain in custody under heightened security measures.

I think you have to emphasize the cost to society and health care, the general detriment of Obamacare. You don’t frame it primarily as “peoples health care premiums are going to go up or their quality of care will be reduced to help the uninsured and the poor.” No. The fact that rates are going up etc has to be secondary in how we frame Obamacare because people are NOT going to want to perceive themselves as being overtly selfish.

So, if you say just: “your rates are going to go up… to help the poor,” then most people are going to approve of the program.

Cuban authorities turned over custody of the Obamas to officials of the Guantanamo prison complex just hours after their escape. Cuban police were summoned to a nearby McDonald’s restaurant after receiving calls of a disturbance. Employees had called the police after former president Obama insisted on smoking in the facility and after the former first lady became violent, complaining that she was shorted on her order of fries.

Let’s just wait until late January/early February 2014 when all those Bronze policyholders show up at the hospital for surgery and are told they need to pay their $12,000 deductible upfront prior to being treated. Let’s not forget that Health “Insurance” is NOT Health “Care”.

Obama has a high floor support, because the Democratic strategy is racial, and his strategy is very racial. It’s punish your (white) enemies all the way. When people are voting by tribal loyalty, they don’t evaluate your failures in an unbiased way.

Say and ponder what you wish LIVeral’s …
The pounding that the Dhimmicrats will experience in 2014 will be a subtle hint what they’ll face in 2016. I just hope the Stupid Party will use the historic change of command to get things straighted out. The problem will be, however, that things will be SO PHUCKED UP that it will take a decade to UNphuck EVERYTHING.
And the Presstititues will be bitching and growling about EVERYTHING … ALL the TIME.
Mark my words. High on the news cycles will be:
UNEMPLOYMENT; NATIONAL DEPT; BALLANCE OF TRADE; DEFENSE SPENDNING; ; EQUAL RIGHTS; IMMIGRATION (rights); MINIMUM WAGE; ; AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE; MENTAL HEALTH CARE; etc.; etc.
If you catch my meaning, if you get my drift.